DIY Cocktails: Some Heroes Wear Capes, Others Drink Brandy

“Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.” 

– Samuel Johnson

Not all heroes wear capes. Some simply drink brandy. I gave that lifestyle a shot this month with a bottle of KWV three-year-old and a bunch of cocktail recipes. This is the first of four brandy cocktails to come.

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The Brandy Cocktail

You can’t get a more literal name than this nineteenth-century drink. You need 60 ml of Brandy. Plus 7.5 ml of each of orange liqueur, such as Cointreau, and of simple syrup, which you can make by boiling equal parts water with sugar and letting it cool.

Photos credit: istockphoto

Plus a few mint leaves and dashes of bitters. Shake these ingredients together on ice, then strain into a glass. That’s it. Almost.

A lemon twist is also a nice touch. The one below, which friends alternatively compared to a corkscrew and a pig’s tail, is easy to make. Cut a slice of lemon, peel away everything but the rind, and give it a twist.

Next week’s cocktail: The China Sidecar.

Photo credit: Jim Boyce

Original by Jim Boyce, Grape Wall of China 葡萄围城

Tap here to read more interesting original work on wine, spirit and liquor. 

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